Glad to see Tatar get a goal. He's been our best forward for two or three games, and he finally got rewarded. I legitimately think he'll keep getting better at the NHL level. Not like Martin St. Louis good, but definitely Danny Briere good. He's such a tenacious little dude, I love it.

Before injuries rattled him Briere was once more than just a good player, maybe not a star but close to it. If Tatar can develop into a younger Briere that would be fantastic but I doubt it.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

I paid extra close attention to Tatar tonight. I counted he had one turnover, one lost board battle, one won board battle, two near-assists (followed by a near-goal off of Abdelkader's first near goal) and an actual goal. Plus, he was playing the body and hustling, even on the backcheck. All in all, a really great night for him.

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Abby was ridiculously good on the forecheck and where did he get the speed from? Need to see more of that from him.

Abby's a work ethic type of guy. I think when he see's Tatar's speed personally on his line it encourages him to find another gear to keep up and push the pace alongside Tatar rather than just allowing him to set the pace. Abby's grown on the team and his role has been increasing game after game. From something we thought was absolutely asinine, him being in the top 6; it's honestly allowed him to grow into a much more efficient role player and gave him more confidence in his shot. With his responsibilities growing it seems like he's taken it and ran with it. Now he's trying to spark lines and what not. This is all my speculation though, so who knows. The Abby-Andersson-Tatar line was very good last night though.

"And we don't score any goals - at least not that I've seen. So let's not give up 40 shots, let's give up 20 shots, let's continue to score no goals, but let's win 2-1. How's that? Everyone think that sounds like a plan?"

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

Abby's a work ethic type of guy. I think when he see's Tatar's speed personally on his line it encourages him to find another gear to keep up and push the pace alongside Tatar rather than just allowing him to set the pace. Abby's grown on the team and his role has been increasing game after game. From something we thought was absolutely asinine, him being in the top 6; it's honestly allowed him to grow into a much more efficient role player and gave him more confidence in his shot. With his responsibilities growing it seems like he's taken it and ran with it. Now he's trying to spark lines and what not. This is all my speculation though, so who knows. The Abby-Andersson-Tatar line was very good last night though.

If Helm makes a successful return, then that line will be all the better. Andersson is a capable defensive player, but I don't know if he'll ever be much on offense.

I never appreciated Alfredsson as a true hockey star. When I saw these first 14 games I easily understand why he was so beloved in Ottawa. He is an old version of Zetter with better shot. Excellent hockey IQ comparable with that of Dats.

Sweet. This dude was brought here for one reason, to punch people in the head - every other thing that he can do, other Wings can do better. I like that we have a head-puncher. The league has other, better head-punchers, but this one is ours. Better than nothing. Good work, Kenny!

"If I can be totally honest, it's not a lot of guys you get impressed by. Actually, it's no one else but him. From the bench, to see what move he makes -- you're like, 'I wish I could do that.' Sometimes you sit on the bench and just think, 'wow,' and you look over to the other bench and they sit there and shake their heads, too. He has great, great skills. I'm probably not going to play with another player who has the kind of skills he has." Mikael Samuelsson on Pavel Datsyuk

Abby's a work ethic type of guy. I think when he see's Tatar's speed personally on his line it encourages him to find another gear to keep up and push the pace alongside Tatar rather than just allowing him to set the pace. Abby's grown on the team and his role has been increasing game after game. From something we thought was absolutely asinine, him being in the top 6; it's honestly allowed him to grow into a much more efficient role player and gave him more confidence in his shot. With his responsibilities growing it seems like he's taken it and ran with it. Now he's trying to spark lines and what not. This is all my speculation though, so who knows. The Abby-Andersson-Tatar line was very good last night though.

I agree with this.

With Abby on the first line he was in Datsyuk's and Zetterberg's shadow and now that he is on a line with less talent (but just as much hard work) he stands out more, as he is forced to work a little harder and Possibly play a style of hockey he is more suited to.

"Holmstrom gets more attention around the net than a pretty girl around closing time!"
- Mickey Redmond